First Advisor

Karen Curtin

Term of Graduation

Summer 2026

Date of Publication

9-10-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Japanese

Department

World Languages and Literatures

Language

English

Subjects

American learners of Japanese, Invitation refusals, Japanese pedagogy, Omoiyari, Performed culture approach, Pragmatic transfer

Physical Description

1 online resource (ix, 122 pages)

Abstract

This thesis examines omoiyari (consideration for others) as a Japanese cultural theme by examining how it is enacted by native Japanese speakers and American learners of Japanese during an invitation scenario. L2 learners' incorporation of the target culture's linguistic and behavioral norms is essential to fully participate in ways that read as natural in that culture. However, relatively little research has examined the extent to which L2 learners are able to enact culturally embedded norms in L2 interaction. Furthermore, little attention has been paid to explaining the cultural theme of omoiyari as it is enacted in an invitation role-play provides better insight into the communicative norms for such a scenario and where learners struggle to incorporate omoiyari that makes their Japanese sound cold or unnatural.

This thesis analyzes role-play interactions produced by three Japanese native speakers and three American college learners of Japanese in an offer-response scenario involving cookies as a souvenir (omiyage). The invitees' omoiyari was identified by identifying utterances that demonstrated consideration, empathy, or kindness toward the inviter when deciding whether to accept or decline the offer. Omoiyari utterances were further grouped into five categories according to their interactional functions: potential face-threatening-act (FTA) mitigation omoiyari utterances, decline-repair omoiyari utterances, relationship-repair omoiyari utterances, ritualized omoiyari utterances, and distorted omoiyari utterances, which were observed only among learners.

Data showed significant differences between native-speaker and learner invitees in the frequency and range of omoiyari utterances, as well as in the strategies they used to manage the face-threatening nature of declining an offer. Native-speaker invitees demonstrated a strong orientation toward protecting the inviter's emotions, reflected in appreciation, compliments, co-construction strategies, and a variety of relationship-repair moves. Such omoiyari strategies were also observed in Szatrowski's Japanese invitation-refusal scenarios. In contrast, the learners' interactions lacked such omoiyari strategies, particularly evident from their decisions to decline, absence of compliments or showing interest prior to declining, personal preference-oriented refusals, and limited relationship-repair repertoire. Learner invitees' lack of omoiyari strategies further indicated pragmatic transfer. The American learners' second culture (C2) compilation was analyzed as distorted as a result of pragmatic transfer.

These findings contribute to a better understanding of how culturally embedded themes such as omoiyari can be examined through Walker and Noda's C2 compilation theory and offer implications for teaching cultural themes in Japanese language education.

Rights

© 2026 Shizuka Fukuo

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/45148

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